


Grown Men Don't Cry

by TheGriefPolice



Series: Where I Come From [5]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Anthony DiNozzo Sr.'s A+ Parenting, Cousin!Abby, Daddy!Gibbs, Diapers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Little!Kate, Little!McGee, Little!Tony, McGee's worried, Non-Sexual Age Play, Onesies, Other, Sickfic, Tony's holding back, Tony's sick!, Uncle!Ducky, bottles, everything works out, pull-ups
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 02:14:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7871794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGriefPolice/pseuds/TheGriefPolice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony wakes up not feeling good, but he pushes himself all the way to work and through the day, trying to what's been asked of him. But when his little side slips up on him at lunch, it's up to Gibbs and the gang to get them home and take care on a very sick Tony!</p><p>"Grown Men Don't Cry" --Tim McGraw, 2001</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grown Men Don't Cry

Tony sat up in bed, head foggy and spinning. He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to work some of it out of his system, but it didn’t seem to be working. He let out an annoyed sigh and stood to take a shower. As he let the water beat down on his shoulders, taking some of his grogginess with it down the drain, he knew he shouldn't go to work today. He could feel his little side pushing through, which was how he knew this wasn’t just a simple allergy attack. Having an episode at work really didn’t sound fun, but DiNozzo’s didn’t take sick days. Not even the ones that worked every day of their lives for an honest buck.

He stepped out of the shower and wrapped himself in a towel, sniffling in some of the snot the steam had loosened. He could imagine Gibbs doing this for him, drying his hair with his big, strong hands and making sure he felt better. _No!_ he thought, shaking his head to forcibly remove all thoughts. _I am an adult and I can do this on my own._

He walked to his dresser and quickly readied himself, making sure he looked just like he did every other day. Well, he would have been damn-close it if hadn’t been for the red nose and puffy eyes. He picked up his sunglasses and opened them with a wave of the hand before placing them on his face. _There, now, no one will know the difference._

He strutted out of his room and down the elevator, feeling dizzy from the quick decent, but walking his way to his car all the same.

Kate was already sitting at her desk when Tony walked in, working away at her computer. McGee wasn’t at his desk, but his stuff had already been scattered across the surface, telling everyone he was here. Gibbs was out of sight as well, but that meant he was here and doing something else, the empty coffee cup already in the trash from his first round in the morning.

“You’re late,” Kate said, glancing up from her screen as Tony sat down but didn’t take off his sunglasses.

“No I’m not.” Tony said defensively, glancing at the clock. He winced a little when he saw he was, in fact, an hour and a half late. “And I’m guessing Gibbs already knows?”

Kate smiled mischievously. “Oh, he knows. Isn’t too happy you’re skipping out on paperwork duties, either.”

“I’m not skipping out! I just--” Tony was cut off as he was Gibbs walk in and lowered his head, returning to his computer to log in and start work.

“DiNozzo, where have you been for the past hour and a half?” Gibbs asked, he voice doing the thing where he seemed to be asking a question, but already knew.

“Slept in, won’t happen again.” Tony said, ducking his head even more. 

“Make sure of it.” Gibbs said, eyeing the man for a second before returning to his desk. He could tell something was up, DiNozzo never just _sleeps in ___. But, it wasn’t his place to question it.

_McGee walked in and sat down at his desk with a sigh, clicking around and getting to work with a side glance at Tony. His hair seemed a little more out of place than normal, keeping it’s usual spiked in every direction look but without the purpose it normally had. Like he had washed it, ran a towel over it, and let it do it’s own thing._

_“You okay, Tony?” McGee asked as quietly as he could without letting Kate of Gibbs hear him._

_Tony looked over, his brain taking a second to register what was said. “Yeah, I’m fine.” No, he wasn’t fine. His head hurt and his chest screamed with a need to cough and his nose was running like crazy, but he had work to do. Even if that meant fighting against his want to hide under a desk and plop a thumb in his mouth a cry._

_So he worked. For the most part, his hands were on autopilot as they filled out the many, many, _many_ documents that had yet to be done for the previous case involving the many deaths of their doppelgangers. _

_“Hey, Tony!” Kate said loudly._

_Tony’s head snapped up and he glared at Kate. “What? Why are you yelling?”_

_“You weren’t answering,” Kate said, eyes scanning the man. “You okay?”_

_“Yeah, I’m fine. Stop asking.”_

_Kate held up her hands in surrender before saying, “Was just asking to see if you wanted to go to a late lunch with us. We were thinking of doing that little place that does shows on stage while you eat.”_

_Tony had to keep himself from gawking at the time as he looked to the bottom right of his screen. “The chinese one?”_

_“Yeah, we all deserve a long lunch.” Kate said, standing up and grabbing her bag. “Come on.”_

_Tony nodded and stood, following Kate to the elevator. Of course, the movement did nothing to help his head, making it pound with every heartbeat. He closed his eyes a took a few deep breaths to work through the pain._

_“You sure you’re okay? You look like you’re about to pass out.”_

_Tony let out a breath. “For the last time, I am _fine_!”_

_Kate let out a sigh, giving up as they reached the parking lot. The drive to the place was silent, Tony silently thankful that Kate had offered to drive. He really wouldn’t have wanted to go otherwise._

_Tony spotted Gibb’s car from a block back, having to hold to a cheere of, “papa’s car!” that so desperately wanted to escape his lips. But, if he did that, Kate would make him stay in the car and then Gibbs would be mad and--no--he really wouldn’t be able to deal with that._

_Kate walked into the small restaurant, smiling and waving at the people she recognized before taking a seat at the table Gibbs had already claimed with Ducky, Abby, and McGee. Tony sat down across from them and placed his napkin in his lap. He was half tempted to lay his head on the table, but pushed against it and smiled at the table._

_He was following the conversation for about three seconds before he realized he really had nothing to contribute and zoned out, following a person as they moved around the room. It had to be a waiter, dressed in all black with his tie tucked into his shirt and an apron tied around his waist, plastic straws wrapped in paper poking out just slightly._

_“Tony!” someone said loudly, pulling Tony away from the man and back to the table._

_“What?”_

_Several eyes looked at him with concern before Ducky spoke up. “We were asking how the paperwork was going, dear boy.”_

_“Oh,” Tony forced a smile. “Great. You know, as great as it can be with doing four people’s work in one day.”_

_Gibbs let out a laugh, taking a sip from a beige ceramic mug. “Don’t start fights, then.”_

_Normally, Tony would have retorted, said something smart with a proud smirk on his face before being told off by Gibbs, but today, Tony just sighed and let his eyes fall to the table cloth. HIs hands were working away on the seam of his pants, picking at the seam for something to do._

_No one said anything, but he could feel their eyes land on him every several seconds and tried to ignore it through the almost brain-splitting headache that was push at his insides._

_Their food arrived quickly--Tony didn’t even remember ordering anything--and the conversation dies down a little as everyone ate. Tony stared at the bowl of soup in front of him, feeling his stomach flip at the thought of food entering it. But if he didn’t eat the team would know something really was up and they’d tell him to go home. DiNozzo’s don’t have sick days._

_He lifted the spoon, pushing back the want for Gibbs to do this for him, and pushed it into his mouth, tasting the saltiness of the broth the soft noodles slid down his throat. _Chicken noodle soup,_ he looked up to ask, but everyone seemed to have found something else to talk about._

_The lights turned dim and a bright spot lights lit up the middle of the stage as a man stood there, smiling as he waved his hand around an announced what today’s show was. Tony didn’t really follow along to the words so much as the man’s movements, each outstretched arm somehow graceful as he moved. Soon enough, the light was turned off and the man melted into the darkness before the light came back on and a dragon now stood on stage._

_The dragon seemed to flow more than move as is went around stage, the scales catching the light just right to be mesmerizing. It almost seemed to be on fire itself as it spit flames as some mean looking guys with axes and clubs. The dragon shook as one of the bad guys managed to hit it on the side, making him roar in pain. So many things were going on that Tony didn’t notice the table move around so that Gibbs was next to him._

_When the biggest, meanest looking of all the guys showed up sporting weapons Tony couldn’t even name, a woman appeared in full traditional dress, hair done up in a tight braid with many layers of cloth draping from her shoulders. She held her hand up to the big bad guy and looked to the dragon. The bad guy dropped all of his weapons to the floor with a loud _thunk_. The woman reached out with one pale hand, touching the dragon’s nose gently. The dragon looked like it shivered just before the lady leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the top of the dragon’s head._

_A loud _bang_ sounded out as streamers flew into the air, causing Tony to close his ears. But his hands landed on the large, slightly hard hand hands of the older man behind him. He twisted his head to see Gibbs smiling softly, the rest of the team looking anywhere but at them._

_Tony didn’t have time to ask why before lights started flickering and the dragon became a man--the man from before. He was now dressed in the many robes of royalty with long hair tied back and eyebrows painted on in nearly white face. Tony clapped right along with the other people, the only thing causing him to stop was the steady pounding that had returned to his head once again._

_“Come on, bud.” Gibbs whispered into his ear._

_Tony didn’t try to resist as he stood up, Gibb’s hand on his back and he lifted the to-go containers--when had those come?--from the table and lead him outside._

_Gibbs pulled his keys out of his pocket, unlocking his Dodge and opening the door for Tony to climb in the back. That was how he knew something was wrong--Tony never _just did_ anything. Not unless he was little and even then, it was rare. _

_The man had been clocked out the whole day, his body running on autopilot and his eyes were half-lidded. Gibbs hadn't paid it much mind until lunch, though, when Tony zoned out and followed a man around the room with his eyes instead of reading the menu over and ordering one of everything. By the time the show started, Gibbs knew he wasn’t the only one seeing something up._

_“I do believe young mister Tony has arrived.” Ducky said, leaning close to Gibbs._

_Gibbs nodded, watching as Tony was quickly sucked into the show. The music was the only sounds, the actors left to tell the story with their movements and Tony hadn’t taken his eyes off it long enough to blink. Little Tony liked when things moved around like colors and objects, lost in the changing things as his mind blanked. And that’s when he knew he was no longer sitting at the table with his Senior Field Agent anymore._

_Switching seats just made sense, that way, Gibbs could be close in case anything happened. He knew these shows liked to use indoor fireworks and little Tony was not to fond of loud noises he hadn’t been expecting. So when the older man was a guy light something on the side of the stage, his hands went to the boy’s ears just in time._

_Gibbs had quickly packed up the food and sent a look to Kate and McGee that they wouldn’t be going back to the office._

_Now, they were on their way back to Gibb’s house, Tony sniffling every few seconds with his fingers in his mouth. Kate and McGee followed in Kate’s car while Ducky and Abby went back to the Navy yard to finish up work._

_The first thing Gibbs did when they got to his house was pull out a thermometer and stick it in Tony’s mouth. Tony’s face scrunched in the middle as the cold stick being popped into his mouth, but Gibb’s face made him think twice about spitting it out._

_When the small device beeped, Gibbs eased it out of Tony’s mouth and checked the small numbers._

_“Tony, why the hell were you at work with a one-oh-one point four fever?” Gibbs scolded._

_The boy’s eyes darted to the floor, the tile pattern suddenly becoming the most interesting thing in the world as his hands twisted around each other._

_Kate and McGee walked into the kitchen, keeping their space as they watched. Tony sat on one of the wooden dinner chairs looking very much like a scolded little kid. Gibbs kneeled down on one knee, getting to Tony’s eyes level as he took the boy’s face in his hand._

_“Tony, you can’t go to work when you’re not feeling well. It’s not safe. Both for you and the team.” Gibbs said softly._

_A tear ran down Tony’s face before he leaned forward, putting most of his weight on Gibbs as the older man wrapped his arms around him._

_“Come on, I think what you need is a little medicine and a lot of sleep.” Gibbs pulled Tony off the chair and into his arms. He saw the other agents standing in the entryway and smiled at them softly. “You guys okay?”_

_Katie nodded but McGee scooted a little closer to Kate, semi-hiding his face._

_Gibbs sighed, realizing he may not be looking at his agents any more. “Come on, we can have a good night at home today.”_

_Kate--or more, Katie--smiled and nodded, following Gibbs up the stairs with Timmy hot on her heals. Gibbs had Tony changed out of his work clothes and into a diaper and onesie in record time._

_“Katie, can you do downstairs and grab the cold medicine while I get Timmy ready?” Gibbs asked, pulling Timmy over to him and leaving Tony on the floor for the time being._

_Timmy stayed silent as his papa worked, giving a half-asleep Tony side glances. Gibbs had him dressed in a pull-up and short with one of his favorite night shirts._

_“Papa, not bed time.”Timmy said, pulling at his shirt._

_“I know, but I thought it might be fun to have a pajama day.” Gibbs smiled, holding the hem of the shirt to make sure Timmy wouldn’t pull it off._

_“Oh,” Timmy let the shirt fall back to his chest just as Katie walked back into the room._

_“Is this what you needed?” Katie asked, holding out a bottle of blue liquid with a triangle shape to it._

_Gibbs took the bottle, saying, “Yes, thank you, sweetheart. Why do you get ready so we can go have a good movie day.”_

_Kaite nodded her head and walked to the closet, pulling out an outfit before walking to the bathroom to get dressed._

_Gibbs read the back of the bottle quickly before pouring a measured amount into the cap and setting it to the side while he lifted Tony’s form off the floor._

_The boy was hot to the touch, his face somehow flush and pale all at the same time. He looked completely miserable, too, whining as Gibbs held the measuring cap to his lips._

_“No, none of that. Come on, you have to drink it.” Gibbs tiled the cup at a sharp angle once Tony opened his mouth, making him drink it all at once._

_Tony’s face scrunched up, but he swallowed it. “Icky,” was all he managed to get out._

_“I know,” Gibbs cooed, running his hands through Tony’s hair. “But you did really well.”_

_When the medicine started to grab at Tony, Gibbs could tell right away. The bottle had been NyQuil, something the older man frequently used himself when he wasn’t feeling one-hundred percent._

_“Is he gonna be okay?” Timmy asked, shooting a little closer to his brother._

_“He’ll be good as new very soon, I promise.” Gibbs smiled._

_Katie walked back into the room wearing her My-Little-Pony pajamas Gibbs had gotten her while back. “I’m sorry.”_

_Gibbs’s brow wrinkled in the middle. “For what, sweetheart?”_

_“For not seeing he didn’t feel well sooner.” Katie said, sitting down on the other side of Gibbs._

_“Oh, Katie, that’s not your job. It’s mine, okay.” Gibb wrapped an arm around the girl’s small shoulders giving her the best hug he could with Tony sprawled in his lap. “So no one is to blame themselves for this, got it?”_

_Timmy nodded, letting out a breath of air and Katie did the same. They sat in silence for a bit with the only sounds coming from Tony’s soft snores._

_“Now, I believe we need to pick a movie.” Gibbs said, trying to sound cheerful. “What are you two thinking?”_

_“Dragons!” Timmy cheered, holding his hands up like claws by his best roar face._

_“No! I wanna watch Disney tonight, please!” Katie leaded._

_Gibbs stood, taking Tony with him and earning a protesting groan before the boy settled into his new position. “How about a compromise?”_

_Timmy shrugged, taking his papa’s empty hand as they walked to the living room._

_Soon enough, they were all sitting on the couch, Tony cradled in Gibb’s lap with their chest together and the boy’s legs on either side of his papa and his head resting on the older man’s shoulder. Katie was leaning against Timmy who had his head against a pillow propped up by his papa’s form. Tarzan played on Gibb’s TV, the volume lower than normal but no one complained._

_Tony started to stir lightly as the movie was finishing, face scrunching in frustration for no real reason. He opened his eyes slowly, looking up at Gibbs before he shoved the ball of his hand towards his eye to rub at it._

_“Hey buddy, how you feeling?” Gibbs whispered lightly._

_Tony thought for a second, seeming to register the words before he said, “Thirsty.”_

_“Let’s see what we can do about that, huh?” Gibbs shifted the boy in his lap, somehow making it so that we he stood up, Tony kept his place on the couch. “I’ll be right back. Would you two like anything to drink?”_

_“Juice!” Timmy and Katie said at the same time, giggling as they did._

_Gibbs rolled his eyes playfully, a smile pulling at his lips before he walked into the kitchen._

_“You okay?” Timmy asked, sitting up to get a better look at his little brother._

_Tony nodded his head and yawned. “Still sleepy.”_

_Timmy nodded. “I’m a little sleepy, too.”_

_“You can always go to bed if you want to.” Katie chimed in._

_“No, I got’sta tell Tony something first!” Timmy said, a little louder than needed. He sat up more and took Tony’s face in both his hands, looking him dead in the eye as he said, “If you feel icky, you call into work!”_

_Tony shook his head, not helping the pounding, but effectively getting Timmy’s hands off his face. “No! DiNozzos don’t take sick days!”_

_“Everyone takes sick days,” Katie said, keeping her voice calm and level as best she could. “No one can just never get sick.”_

_“Yeah,” Timmy said, trying to not notice the way his brother’s eyes were becoming glossy._

_“No! Dad said DiNozzos don’t take sick days. We’re made of hard stuff!” Tony pounded on his chest with his fisted hand, only making him cough._

_Gibbs walked back into the room, a cup, sippy cup, and bottle held in his hands as picked Tony up and sat back down with the boy in his lap. “You made be made of hard stuff, baby boy, but you’re also human.”_

_Gibbs handed out the two cups appropriately, keeping the bottle in his hand as he went on. “Even papa has to take sick days every-now-and-then.”_

_Tony’s eyes went big. “Nuh-uh! You’re always at work.”_

_Gibbs shook his head, “Not always. Sometimes I have to come home early and drink some f that stuff I gave you because I’ll feel yucky.”_

_Tony looked over to Katie and Timmy with a _did you know about this_ face._

_“And me too!” Timmy smiled. “I take sick days, too.”_

_Katie nodded her head as she said, “Yeah, and me too. Some time I get really bad tummy aches that won’t go away and I have to take medicine and stay in bed until it goes away.”_

_Tony flinched a little at that one, leaning back on Gibbs, his back against the man’s chest. He let out a sigh, giving up for now. It still sounded wrong, but he guessed it would be okay to believe it for just right now._

_Gibbs smiled, holding the bottle to the boy’s lips and leaning back against the couch. “Let’s do another movie, okay?”_

_The two older kids nodded, finding something they agreed on quickly and sitting back to wach it. Tony was mostly asleep the second he closed his eyes and Timmy and Katie quickly following._

_Tony wasn’t quite asleep, still aware of Gibbs’s heartbeat and the sound of the movie being played. He thought about what they had said, thinking about it as he was wrapped up in Gibbs’s arms with Timmy leaning against him just slightly and Katie not too far away. Maybe there was a little truth to what they had said. Not that he’d ever tell them. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander as he fell into sleep’s welcoming arms._

_Gibbs took in the silence while he had it, smiling softly at his family asleep around him. THere was a phrase Gibbs had never really understood when he hear it, something about the family you choose often being the family you kept your whole life. But now, it made much more sense to him._


End file.
